Civil War Primary Source Documents

From the New-York Historical Society, Civil War Primary Source Documents is an archive of unique manuscripts chronicling the American Civil War as it was experienced. Providing both Northern and Southern perspectives, it covers all aspects of the war, including reactions and impressions from the home front.

At a Glance

Content Includes:

Extensive correspondence from both the Confederate and Union troops, societies and individuals and their families

Diaries from soldiers on the field and civilians on the home front

Hand-drawn illustrations, maps, and engineering notebooks

Military content from both the army and navy, from the front lines to hospitals and prisons

Letters and first person accounts from such well-known leaders as Ulysses S. Grant, as well as accounts from individual soldiers and sailors

Explore the Past in a New Way

EBSCO’s Historical Digital Archive Viewer replicates the experience of browsing and reading original archive material and enhances it with keyword search, note-taking tools and other useful features.

1861 Letter from soldier Edwin Birley to his parents

Engineering drawing from 1859 notebook of the Seuss Family Collection

Memorial Cloth of General G.T. Beauregard

Battlefront Perspectives and Personal Artifacts

Invaluable primary resources include letters, diaries, administrative records, photographs and illustrations. Personal accounts appear in various scrapbook journals and family portraits, and strategic initiatives are evident in maps featuring details of troop movements and local landmarks.

Insightful Correspondences and Papers

Highlights include the papers of David Cronin, a famous soldier and artist, soldiers' diaries chronicling daily life and experiences as prisoners of war, Union Defense Committee records and Confederate Army records.

While focus is placed on the War years, this resource also includes important contextual documents in the crucial years leading up to the War and after the fall of the Confederacy.